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Four Huskies Named To Naismith Watch List

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The Atlanta Tip Off Club announced the Naismith Midseason Top-30 List today and four Huskies are on the list. They are:

Stefanie Dolson, Bria Hartley, Kaleena Mosquda-Lewis and Breanna Stewart. All four Husky names have also appeared on the Wooden Award Top-20 list announced in January.

The Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T is awarded annually to the men’s and women’s college basketball players of the year. The voting academy bases its criteria on player performance throughout the season.

The ACC leads all conferences with 10 players hailing from seven different teams. Louisville’s Shoni Schimmel joins the four Huskies as representatives of the American Athletic Conference, which boasts the second-most players.

In the history of the Naismith Trophy, five Huskies have earned the award in seven different seasons. Rebecca Lobo first took home the honors for Connecticut in the 1995 season after winning the program’s first National Championship. In 2002, the Naismith Award was bestowed on Sue Bird after UConn’s first of three consecutive National Titles. Diana Taurasi followed on Bird’s heels as a back-to-back recipient in 2003 and 2004. Most recently, Tina Charles earned the honors in 2010, in between Maya Moore’s two seasons as the Naismith Award winner in 2009 and 2011.